"Protect Yourself At All Times" is the new HIV/AIDS awareness campaign that The Gay and Lesbian Community Center of Southern Nevada has recently launched together with the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). Exponents of this crowd of super bad-a** fighters became the testimonials for a project that aims at reaching the younger population.

UFC COO Lawrence Epstein said: "As someone who grew up in the 1980s and saw the virus beaten back with education in the 1990's, I was stunned to learn from our friends at The Center that HIV is still having such a dramatic impact on young people". Epstein's right, something has to be done to prevent new infections within the young population because the situation is dramatic and it's still getting worse. Research by the American Center for Disease Control and Prevention showed that last year, half of the 50,000 Americans infected with the disease were under the age of 30. "No other sport reaches the under 35 demographic like the UFC does and the UFC felt a duty to try and do something about this situation" Epstein added.

Fighting, like sex, is a sport you have to do safely, so these fighters are the perfect testimonial for HIV/AIDS campaigns. Plus UFC's media power is huge and for sure many young men and women will be given information about something they really need to know.

The project - promoting HIV tests and safe sex - was launched as a national campaign in the US, but the hope is to make "Protect Yourself At All Times" international and I really hope it will work! We've plenty of ideas about how to make amazing clothes that would look just awesome on UFC fighters even though, if I have to be completely honest, they look equally good just in shorts in the ring...